Blame it on the Mistletoe
by snoozin81
Summary: ONE SHOT! I wasn’t a big fan of the holidays. Who would be when they were always spent alone? My family had fallen apart years ago, my friends had all moved on with their lives, and my girlfriend…lets just say there hasn’t been one worth mentioning since


Disclaimer: I do not own Degrassi, though I wish I did. I do not own the song, thank you Mr. Toby Keith for letting me borrow it.

**The middle of December ain't the time to be alone**

**It's just too close to Christmas**

**And too far to go home**

**I ran in to a friend of a friend**

**Standing in the checkout line**

**She said I've spent too much already**

**And there's gifts I just can't find**

I wasn't a big fan of the holidays. Who would be when they were always spent alone? My family had fallen apart years ago, my friends had all moved on with their lives, and my girlfriend…lets just say there hasn't been one worth mentioning since high school. So what if I wasn't filled with the holiday cheer and so what if I didn't have anyone to spend the holidays with, life was screwed up and nobody knew that better than me.

I was standing in the checkout line of the local grocery store buying a TV dinner and a six-pack of beer when someone behind me asked, "Jay?"

I turned around to find myself face to face with a tall, thin, red head. She'd changed but I knew right away who it was. Ellie Nash, all grown up. "Ellie, wow, last I heard you were tearing up New York," I said, giving her one of those awkward hugs you give people when you haven't seen them in years and you're not sure what else to do.

"I am but my mom forced me home for the holidays. She didn't want to be alone and since dad left…." Ellie trailed off but I'd heard the rumors. Ellie's dad had come back from overseas, filed for divorce, and walked away. Ellie's mom had slipped back into the bottle but only briefly. Last I'd heard she was doing better, had been sober for quite sometime.

I studied her for a moment and on second glance she really hadn't changed all that much. She was still pale and you could tell she'd been broken one too many times. She was still wearing long sleeves to cover up the scars or maybe it was because it was December in Toronto, who knows. Her hair was down framing her porcelain face and I had to fight the urge to reach out and tuck it behind her ear.

"It's good to see you, El. You look great." I added. I looked down at her nearly full cart and asked, "Buying out the store?"

She laughed slightly before smiling, "No, mom's decided to have a small get together and I got stuck with the shopping. What about you? Big holiday plans?"

"No, I try to avoid all the Holiday cheer. It's bad for my bad boy image." I answer sarcastically making her smile even bigger.

The line moves and the cashier begins to scan my lonely two items. Ellie looks at me questioningly and I shrug my shoulder in reply before handing the young blonde a twenty and then pocketing my change. I wait as the girl begins to scan the contents of Ellie's cart. We make idol chit chat about the weather, the holidays, nothing deep or earth shattering. When we're both done I walk her out to her Ford Explorer and help her load the seven or eight bags into the trunk.

"Thanks," she says as we prepare to go our separate ways. "If you're not busy tonight you should stop by. It's mostly my mom's friends and some family so it'll probably be dead-lame but you're welcome, you know if you want to."

"Thanks, I'll think about it." I reply giving her a gracious smile.

She nodded, "Good. I hope I'll see you there."

We shared another awkward hug before saying goodbye and leaving. I drove back to my tiny apartment, the smell of Herbal Essence shampoo, baby lotion, and a sweet fruity perfume flooding my head with images of Ellie. I debated whether or not I should go to the party. It wasn't that I had something better to do (because I didn't) but the idea of hanging out with a bunch of strangers and a girl who never really liked me to begin with wasn't my idea of a good time.

When I arrived home I put the TV dinner into the freezer and the beer into the fridge, grabbing one first and popping it open. I took a swig as I sat down on my faded, worn out couch and flipped on the television. I surfed through a couple of channels, all of them broadcasting some crappy holiday movie with a super cheesy happy ending. I looked up at the clock before clicking off the television. A half hour later I was freshly showered and dressed in my nice jeans and a polo shirt. I looked like a dork, but what could I do. I couldn't exactly show up at Ellie's in my greasy jeans and my holy tee shirt.

**I walked her home and when she opened up her door**

**I'm not sure what happened then **

**Guess magic took its course**

I made a quick pit stop at the store to purchase a fruit cake and a poinsettia. I remember my mother once saying it was impolite to show up at someone's house without some kind of peace offering. That had been before the abuse started. Once the bruises had started to appear they had stopped going anywhere so peace offerings weren't necessary except for the flowers my dad would always bring home after the fight nights.

I arrived at Ellie's house to find the street already littered with cars. I found a spot not too far away and pulled in. I sat there for a minute trying to shake the feeling that I was about to make a huge mistake. Eventually I pushed the feeling aside and climbed out of the car, walking up the sidewalk and ringing the doorbell.

"You came." Ellie said when she opened the door and saw me standing there. She took my hand and pulled me inside. "I don't know anyone here."

"That's not true." I told her. "You know me."

She smiled a genuine smile. One that said she was actually glad I was there. I handed her the things I'd bought and followed her into the crowded living room. I looked around at all the people as Ellie sat the cake and flower down on the end table. Ellie wasn't the only one who didn't know anyone. There wasn't a recognizable face in the bunch. I felt a little out of place and thought maybe I really had made the wrong choice by coming.

"Ellie, sweetie," Her mom called from across the room. She was motioning to something above us and we both looked up. A spring of mistletoe was hanging directly above our heads.

I looked down at Ellie whose face had turned the same color as her hair and then without even thinking I leaned down and kissed her. I was taken by surprise when she actually kissed me back. We pulled apart as her mother began to giggle across the room.

"Are you sure she's sober?" I asked half joking.

"Yeah," Ellie replied. "She just thinks I should be married and giving her grandkids."

I laughed as Ellie rolled her eyes. Her mother joined us a few seconds later. "So who's your friend?" She asked grinning from ear to ear.

"This is Jay. He's a friend from high school." Ellie introduced. "Jay, this is my mom."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Nash." I replied.

Mrs. Nash ushered me further into the living room, "I'm so glad you could make it. Now Ellie won't be completely board out of her mind. Please come in, get yourself something to eat, and most importantly have fun."

"Sorry about that. She's over doing the holiday cheer a little." Ellie said. "Are you hungry?"

Blame it on the mistletoe 

'**Cause what happened here nobody knows**

**How could something as simple as a kiss**

**Change my holiday like this**

A few hours later the party was winding down. "I should probably get going." I said to Ellie as I looked around the nearly empty house.

"I'm glad you came." She said and I knew it was the truth and not just words to make me fell better.

"Me too," I replied. "Give me a call before you leave. Maybe we can have dinner or something."

"Ellie," Her mom called from across the room again motioning for us to look up. Sure enough we were in the exact same spot as before. I looked down at her and smiled and she leaned up and kissed me gently on the lips.

After the kiss Ellie walked me to the door and we said our goodbyes. I walked down the street to my car and limbed in. The whole way home I thought about Ellie, about the night, about the kisses. She'd only been in town for one day and she'd already wrecked my whole world, but New York was a long way from Toronto and I knew I probably wouldn't see her again.

And we held each other all night long 

**And we fell asleep to a Christmas song**

**Playin' on the radio**

**Blame it on the mistletoe**

I'd been wrong. I saw Ellie a few days later. I was working under the hood of one of the used cars on Joey's lot. It was ten till five and I was trying to finish up before I left. She walked into the shop and leaned against the wall. She must have been standing there a while just watching me work because when she spoke she said, "I used to love watching you and Sean work on your car. Alex would be talking to me and I wouldn't even hear a word she said. She used to get so mad because she'd have to repeat herself all the time."

I jumped a little at the realization that I hadn't been alone like I had thought. I turned around as she walked further into the shop, "How long have you been standing there?"

"A while, Joey said you get off soon. I have some last minute Christmas shopping to do and thought maybe you'd want to tag along." She explained with a smile.

"Sure but I'll have to stop by my house and wash up a bit." I answered shutting the hood of the car. "Let me tell Joey I'm leaving and you can follow me to my place."

She nodded and I walked into the office to let Joey know I was leaving before climbing into my car and leading Ellie to my tiny apartment. When we first walked in I felt a little embarrassed, it was tiny and dirty and it stank of grease and sweat. "Sorry about the mess." I said picking up some dirty clothes from the couch so she could set down.

"It reminds me of Sean." She said as she slipped into a memory. I watched the vacant look on her face. The look people get when they're reliving a special moment form the past. In a soft voice she added, "And you."

"It reminds you of me?" I asked a little confused.

"Yeah of all the times you, Alex, Sean, and I would hang out. Just sit around the apartment and play cards or watch a movie. Don't laugh but after Sean left I had a little bit of a crush on you." She said with a nervous laugh.

"And here I always thought you hated me." I replied, trying to hold in the laughter.

"I did…at first, but once I got to know you a little, once you let down that bad boy wall you always had up, you weren't so bad." She explained with a tiny smile.

"Well, don't tell anyone. It could ruin my reputation." I teased. "Give me twenty minutes and I'll be ready to go."

I disappeared down the hall. Exactly twenty minutes later I was back in the living room. Fresh clothes and grease free, "Okay I'm ready to go."

We drove to the mall, making small talk and listening to Christmas carols on the radio. I parked near the back of the parking lot due to the amount of other last minute shoppers. It didn't take Ellie long to get what she needed and after she was done we stopped at an Italian restaurant a short distance from my apartment to grab a bite to eat. We ordered take out and drove back to my place to eat it. We were sitting on the floor of the living room, our food propped up on the beat up coffee table, watching some Christmas movie Ellie had said she liked. She looked over at me during a commercial and asked, "How come you don't have a tree, or presents, or anything Christmassy?"

"I told you the holiday cheer isn't good for my bad boy image. Besides who am I going to share it with? My family's gone, Sean's in Wasaga, and Alex is with Paige." I said taking a bite of the spaghetti I had ordered.

"You can share it with me." She offered, reaching into a bag that was sitting beside her and pulling out a small wrapped package. "Here I got you something. Well, actually I made it."

"You didn't have to do that." I said taking the neatly wrapped package from her hand.

"It's not much." She said as I unwrapped the gift. Inside was a burnt CD she had made. "I hope you like it. I wasn't sure what kind of music you listened to these days but it's got a lot of great stuff on it."

"Thanks, El, but I feel bad. I didn't get you anything." I said, kicking myself for not having enough brains to know I should have gotten her something.

"But you did, you gave me great company the other night and again today. When I agreed to come home I thought I was going to have a miserable holiday but you changed that. Thank you." She replied with a comforting smile.

When we finished eating Ellie forced me to watch more of those stupid Christmas movies. We sat on the couch and half way through the second or third one Ellie fell asleep. I covered her with a blanket, turned off the TV and lights, and went into my room.

If someone would have told me a week ago that Ellie Nash would be sleeping on my couch and offering to share her Christmas with me, I would have personally checked them into the psyche ward at the local hospital. And yet there she was, just a few feet away. I could hear her soft snores drifting down the hallway lulling me to sleep.

I was on the last stretch of falling asleep when I heard a soft knock on my bedroom door. It was so soft I wasn't completely sure I'd actually heard it or just imagined I had until the door opened and Ellie stuck her head in.

"Are you awake?" She asked barely above a whisper.

"Yeah," I replied but my voice gave away my lie.

"Sorry." She said, walking into and sitting down on the edge of my mattress. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"Don't worry about it. Are you okay?" I asked a little concerned and a little thrown off by the fact that Ellie was in my bedroom, sitting on my bed.

She hesitated trying to find the right words, "Can I just stay in here with you? I don't really want to be alone."

She laid down next to me not waiting for my answer. I could feel her presence beside me, her hair tickling my arm, her skin barely touching mine. I could hear her breathing and it was comforting to know I wasn't lying there alone.

I woke up, she was wrappin' gifts beneath the tree 

**She said, I know it's early, so I thought I'd let you sleep**

**Then she insisted I get up and take a look outside**

**Hey sleepyhead, it must have snowed at least a foot last night**

**That's when I saw it hangin' up above my head**

**She threw her arms around my neck**

**Laughin' as she said**

I woke up the next morning alone and at first I thought maybe the whole thing had been a dream. Maybe I'd never really run into the red head, maybe I'd never kissed her, maybe it hadn't been her hair I'd felt on my arm last night or her snoring that had rocked me to sleep. That's when I heard it, the soft humming and the low melody of music coming form the other room. I quietly made my way to the origin of the sound and found her sitting on the floor wrapping presents. Brightly colored red and green paper surrounding her along with bows and ribbons of every shape, size, and color. I stood there for a moment just watching her as she hummed along with the radio that she had sitting beside her. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bow exposing her long slender neck as she bent over the box to tape the paper. I cleared my throat and she turned her head to look at me a smile lighting up her face.

"I hope I didn't wake you." She said sitting back on her ankles.

"Have you been up long?" I ask as I make my way over to the couch being careful not to step on any of the stuff she has lying around.

"A couple of hours." She says looking up at me from her spot on the floor. Then she stands up, grabs my hand and starts pulling me up. "I want to show you something."

I follow because…who am I kidding? The girl is gorgeous. She leads me over to the window and pushes the curtain back. Outside the snow is falling, blanketing the world in white. She inches closer and turns to face me instead of the window. She's got a mischievous look in her eye as she point up and that's when I see it, hanging on the curtain rod above us. I figure she must have hung it there while I was sleeping, a single spring of mistletoe. I look into her eyes as she wraps her arms around my neck and I wonder why it took me this long to see how amazing she was. Why it took me years to see the only person I could ever truly love was the girl I'd never given a second glance to until she turned one miserable Christmas into the best time of my life.

I did what any guy in my position would do. I leaned down and I kissed her, not like the two times before. This time I really kissed her. It was a kiss that could have melted the freshly fallen snow or lit up every Christmas tree in the Toronto area. It was a kiss that could change everything if were to let it.

Blame it on the mistletoe 

'**Cause what happened here nobody knows**

**How could something as simple as a kiss**

**change my holiday like this**

**And we held each other all night long**

**And we fell asleep to a Christmas song**

**Playin' on the radio**

**Blame it on the mistletoe**


End file.
